Muck bailing attachment for mine skips



Jan. 3l

Filed May 8, 1959 L. TAYLOR ET AL MUCK BAILING ATTACHMENT FOR MINE SKIPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LUNDY TAYLOR LACY C. BROWN ATTORNEYS INVENTOR:

`1an. 31, 1961 l.. TAYLOR ET AL v 2,969,886

Mucx BAILING ATTACHMENT FOR MINE sKIPs Filed May 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS LUNDY TAYLOR LACY G. BROWN BY y ORNEYS nited States Patent i MUCK BAILING ATTACHMENT ron MINE sms Filed May 8, 1959, SeraNo. 811,853

6 Claims. (Cl. 214-741) This invention relates to mining operations and more particularly to a muck bailing attachment for mme skips which may be utilized to automatically remove the muck which collects at the bottom of mine shafts.

In mining operations and particularly those in coal mines, it is well known that muck in the form of coal dust, dirt and water collects at the bottom of a mine shaft at a relatively rapid rate and consequently it is frequently necessary to suspend operations in the shaft and manually remove the muck from the bottom thereof. This removal is necessary, since in a relatively short time the muck will accumulate to a suiiicient extent to impede movement of the mine skip to the bottom of the shaft and since such mine skip usually must move downwardly to a predetermined position in the mine shaft in order to initiate operation of the automatic loading machinery for the skip, a collection of muck in the bottom of the shaft su'icient to prevent downward movement ofthe mine skip in the shaft to such predetermined position results in the necessity for suspending mine operations until the muck can be removed. The manual removal of such muck is both time consuming and costly, as well as relatively diiiicult and tiring manual labor and consequently a means for automatically removing such muck without materially adding to the cost of mining operations represents a significant step forward in the art.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a muck bailing attachment for mine skips, which attachment may be conveniently and economically constructed from readily available material and attached to a conventional mine skip without material alteration thereof.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a muck bailing attachment for mine skips which may be conveniently attached to conventional mine skips without alteration thereof and in which the operating linkage for the gate of the skip is also utilized to operate the muck bailing attachment.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a muck bailing attachment for mine skips, which attachment includes a pivotally mounted dipper depending below the mine skip and which will automatically fill with muck upon the mine skip reaching the lowermost position in the mine shaft.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a muck bailing attachment for mine skips, which attachment includes a pivotally mounted dipper depending below the mine skip and in which means is provided for pivotally moving the dipper from an upright filling position to an inclined discharge position, such operation being accomplished by the linkage mechanism utilized for operating the gate of the mine skip.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a muck bailing attachment for mine skips, which attachment includes a dipper depending below the mine skip and in which one wall of the dipper terminates above -the opposite wall, the longer wall serving as a chute for discharging the contents of the dipper.

A still further object of the invention is the provision 2,969,886 Patented Jan. 31, 1961 of a muck bailing attachment for mine skips, which attachment may be conveniently secured to a conventional mine skip without alteration thereof and which will automatically operate to perform the intended function without in any way interfering with the normal operation of the mine skip.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing a mine shaft with vertical guides and mine skip installed therein and with the muck bailing attachment of this invention secured to the mine skip and with the dipper of such attachment in the loading or filling position;

Fig. 2, a front elevational view of the muck bailing attachment of this invention with the dipper of such attachment in filling or loading position;

Fig. 3, a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4, a fragmentary side elevational view showing the upper end of the mine shaft with the mine skip in discharge position and further showing the means for operating the gate of the mine skip, as well as for operating the dipper of the muck bailing attachment of this invention.

With continued reference to the drawing and particularly Fig. 1 thereof, there is shown a mine shaft 10 having vertical guides or tracks 11 installed therein and mounted for vertical movement on the guides or tracks 11 is a conventional mine skip 12 which includes a bucket 13 for receiving coal or other mined material from a conventional loading apparatus or if desired, the skip bucket 13 may, of course, be loaded manually and the bottom portion 14 of the bucket 13 is formed in the nature a hopper for permitting convenient discharge of the material in the bucket 13. A gate 15 is pivotally mounted at 16 on the lower end of the hopper portion 14 of the bucket 13 and in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the gate 15 operates to close the outlet of the hopper portion 14 thereby retaining the coal or other material in the bucket 13 of the skip 12.

A `link 17 is pivotally connected at 18 to the lower end of the gate 15 and the opposite end of the link 17 is pivotally connected at 19 to a bell crank lever 20 which is pivotally mounted at 21 on the mine skip 12. The link 17 and arm 22 of the bell crank lever 20 provides a toggle linkage arrangement which as shown in Fig. l moves over dead center and engages stop block 23 Ito hold the gate 15 o-f the skip 12 in closed position. The arm 24 of the bell crank lever 20 is provided with a cam follower in the form of 'a roller 25 rotatably mounted thereon `and the function and operation of such roller will be later described. A bumper block 26 is provided at the bottom of the tracks or guides 11 adjacent the bottom 27 of the mine shaft 10 and the bumper block 26 serves to limit downward movement of the mine skip 12 of the shaft 10 beyond a predetermined po-int.

Muck in the form of coal dust, dir-t or other debris accumulates in the bottom of the mine shaft 10 as shown at 28, and if such muck is not removed the level of the same will rise to a sufficient amount to impede normal operations of the mine skip 12. In order to automatically remove the muck 28 accumulated in the bottom of the mine shaft 10, there is provided a muck bailing attachmentconstructed in accordance with this invention and which attachment may well comprise a frame, including spaced side members 29 and 30 connected by cross brace members 31 and 32. The side members 2Q and 30 forming the frame of the muck bailing attachment may be tapered in a downward direction as clearly shown in Figs. l and 3 and the side members 29 and 30 are provided at their upper ends with suitable fittings 33 and 34 for permitting attachment of the same to the mine any other desired or appropriate manner. It is to be noted from an inspection of Fig. l, that the muck hailing attachment of `this invention is attached to thermi'ne Askip 12 on the side ofthe rails or guides 11 opposite tothe gate 15 for the bucket 13. Y Y

A dipper 35 comprising an elongated front wall 36 and a rear wall 3'7, such walls diverging upwardly as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and these walls being closed by end walls 38 and 39 to provide a muck receiving container. The dipper 35 is provided adjacent the lower end 40 and lat opposite sides thereof, with outwardly projecting trunnions 41 and 42, which trunnions serve to pivotally mount the dipper 35 adjacent the lower ends of side members 29 and 30. The trunnions 41 and 42 may be secured to Ithe dipper 35 in any desired manner Vand as will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 2, the

trunnion 41 projectsV through the side member29 and fixed to the outer end of the trunnion 41 is a crank arm 43. Crank arm 43 is pivotally connected at 44 to one end of a link 45, the other end of the ylink 45being connected at 46 to one end of a rocker arm 47 pivotally mounted at 4S on the side frame member 29. The opposite end of the rocker `arm 47 is pivotally connected at 49 to one end of a link 50 and the opposite end of link 50 is pivotally connected at 51 to the arm 22 of bell crank lever 20.

With reference to Fig. l, themine skip 12, as well as the muck hailing attachment of this invention is shown at lthe lowermost point in the mine shaft 10 and in this location, the bucket 13 of the mine skip 12 is 'lled with coal or other mined material by automatic or other suitable means and also at this time, the muck bailing attachment of this invention penetrates the muck 28 in the bottom of the mine shaft to a point where such muck will flow over the upper edge 52 of the rear wall 37 of the dipper 35 to iill the same to the level of such upper edge 52. Penetration of the muck hailing attachment of this invention into the muck 28 is facilitated by the downwardly tapered formation thereof as clearly shown in Figs. l and 3. It is also to be noted that in the position shown in Fig. l, the dipper 35 is in an upright position with the front and rear walls 36 and 37 of the dipper 35 diverging upwardly :and consequently, muck owing into the dipper 35 will be retained therein.

Upon completion of the filling of bucket 13 of mine skip 12, such skip, together with the muck hailing attachment of this invention -is hoisted upwardly in the mine shaft lil and above the surface of the ground there is provided a framework 53 within which the vertical guides or trucks 11 extend and the mine skip 12 is hoisted upwardly within the framework 53 to an unloading position as shown in Fig, 4. A cam track 54 is secured to the framework 53 and as the mine skip 12 app-roaches the upper limit of travel, the cam follower comprising the roller 25' enters the cam track 54 and as shown in Fig. 4, this causes movement of the bell crank lever 20 which in turn through the link 17 moves the gate 15 to discharge position for discharging the contents of the bucket 13 of the mine skip l2. At the same time, operation of the bell crank lever 25 through the link 50, rocker arm 47, link 45 and crank arm 43 moves the dipper 35 to the discharge position shown in Fig. 4 in which position the contents of the dipper 35 will be discharged over the edge S of the front wall 36 of the dipper 35. It will thus be seen that movement of the dipper 35 and the elongated front wall 36 provide means whereby the muck in the dipper 35 is discharged to the opposite side of the framework 53 from the gate 15 of the bucket 13 and such muck may be discharged into a truck or other suitable container. Upon completion of the discharge operation, the mine skip l2 moves downwardly in the frame 53 and into the mine shaft 10 and such downward movement results in the cam follower 25 cooperating with cam track 54 moving the gate 15 to closed position and returning the dipper 35 to the vertical position shown in Figs. l and 3 whereupon the operation described above may be repeated.

It will thus be seen that'there has been provided by this invention a muck bailing attachment which may be applied to a conventional mine skip without alteration thereof and in which the operation of the attachment is completely automatic, both as to filling and discharging and in actual operation the muck bailing attachment of this invention has served to maintain the muck in the bottom of a mine shaft at aY level below that which will serve to impede mining operations. The muck bailing attachment may be conveniently and economically constructed from readily available materials by simple welding and other metal working operations and accordingly, may be produced at a relatively low cost.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A muck hailing attachment for a mine skip, said skip including a top loading bottom discharge bucket mounted for vertical movement on vertical guides in a mine shaft, a discharge gate pivotally mounted on the 'bottom of said bucket, linkage means for operating said gate to open said bucket for discharging the contents and for closing said bucket for loading operations, a cam follower on said linkage means and a. cam track adjacent the upper end of said shaft for engaging said cam follower slightly prior to termination of the upward movement of said skip to actuate said linkage to open said gate, downward movement of said skip and cam follower servserving to close said gate, said attachment comprising a frame including spaced side members secured to the bottom of said skip on the side opposite said gate and depending below said skip, cross braces extending between said side members, a clipper comprising and elongated front and a rear upwardly diverging wall and end walls, said rearwall terminating below said elongated front wall, saiddipper being pivotally mounted at the lower end between the lower ends of said side members With said rear wall disposed on the side toward said skip and said elongated front wall on the side away from said skip, a crank arm lined to the pivotal mounting of said dipper, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on one of said side members, a link connecting one end of said rocker arm and said crank arm and a second link connecting the other end of said rocker arm and said linkage means, whereby with said gate closed said clipper is disposed in vertical position to receive muck owinginto the same at the bottom of the shaft and upon operation of said linkage means to open said gate said dipper will swing outwardly away from said skip to discharge the muck at the opposite side, said elongated front wall providing a chute for the muck.

2. A muck hailing attachment for a mine skip, said skip including a top loading bottom discharge bucket mounted for vertical movement on vertical guides in a mine shaft, a discharge gate pivotally mounted on the bottom yof said bucket, linkage means for operating said gate to open said bucket for discharging the contents Aand for closing said bucket for loading operations, a

cam follower on said linkage means and a cam track adjacent the upper endV of said kShaft for engaging said cam follower slightly prior to termination of the upward movement of said skip to actuate said linkage to open said gate, downward movement of said skip and cam follower serving to close said gate, said attachment comprising a frame including spaced side members secured to the bottom of said skip on the side opposite said gate and depending below said skip, a clipper comprising an elongated front and a rear upwardly divering wall and end walls, said rearwall terminating below said elongated front wall, said dipper being pivotally mounted at the lower end between the lower ends of said side members with said rear wall disposed on the side toward said skip and said elongated front wall on the side away from said skip, a crank arm fixed to the pivotal mounting of said dipper, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on one of said side members, a link connecting one end of said rocker arm and said crank arm and a second link connecting the other end of said rocker arm and said linkage means, whereby with said gate closed said dipper is disposed in vertical position to receive muck flowing into the same at the bottom of the shaft and upon operation of said linkage means to open said gate said dipper will swing outwardly away from said skip to discharge the muck at the opposite side, said elongated front wall providing a chute for the muck.

3. A muck bailing attachment for a mine skip, said skip including a top loading bottom discharge bucket mounted for vertical movement on vertical guides in a mine shaft, a discharge gate pivotally mounted on the bottom of said bucket, linkage means for operating said gate to open said bucket for discharging the contents and for closing said bucket for loading operations, a cam follower on said linkage means and a cam track adjacent the upper end of said shaft for engaging said cam follower slightly prior to termination of the upward movement of said skip to actuate said linkage to open said gate, downward movement of said skip and cam follower serving to close said gate, said attachment comprising a frame including spaced side members secured to the bottom of said skip on the side opposite said gate and depending below said skip, a dipper comprising an elongated front and a rear wall and end walls, said rearwall terminating below said elongated front wall, said dipper being pivotally mounted at the lower end between the lower ends of said side members with said rearwall disposed on the side toward said skip and said elongated front wall on the side away from said skip, a crank arm fixed to the pivotal mounting of said dipper, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on one of said side members, a link connecting one end of said rocker arm and said crank arm and a second link connecting the other end of said rocker arm and said linkage means, whereby with said gate closed said dipper is disposed in vertical position to receive muck flowing into the same at the bottom of the shaft and upon operation of said linkage means to open said gate said dipper will swing outwardly away from said skip to discharge the muck at the opposite side, said elongated front wall providing a chute for the muck.

4. A muck hailing attachment for a mine skip, said'skip including a top loading bottom discharge bucket mounted for vertical movement on vertical guides in a mine shaft, a discharge gate pivotally mounted on the bottom of said bucket, linkage means for operating said gate to open said bucket for discharging the contents and for closing said bucket for loading operations, a cam follower on said linkage means and a cam track adjacent the upper end of said shaft for engaging said cam follower slightly prior to termination of the upward movement of said skip to actuate said linkage to open said gate, downward movement of said skip and cam follower serving to close said gate, said attachment comprising a frame including spaced side members secured to the bottom of said skip on the side opposite said gate and depending below said skip, a dipper comprising front and rear walls and end walls, said dipper being pivotally mounted at the lower end between the lower end of said side members with said rearwall disposed on the side toward said skip and said front wall on the side away from said skip, a crank arm xed to the pivotal mountingof said dipper, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on one of said side members, a link connecting one end of said rocker arm and said crank arm and a second link connecting the other end of said rocker arm and said linkage means, whereby with said gate closed said dipper is disposed in vertical position to receive muck lowing into the same at the bottom of the shaft and upon operation of said linkage means to open said gate said dipper will swing outwardly away from said skip to discharge the muck at the opposite side.

5. A muck bailing attachment for a mine skip, said skip including a top loading bottom discharge bucket mouned for vertical movement on vertical guides in a mine shaft, a discharge gate pivotally mounted on the bottom of said bucket, linkage means for operating said gate to open said bucket for discharging the contents and for closing said bucket for loading operations, a cam follower on said linkage means and a cam track adjacent the upper end of said shaft for engaging said cam follower slightly prior to termination of the upward movement of said skip to actuate said linkage to open said gate, downward movement of said skip and cam follower serving to close said gate, said attachment cornprising a frame including spaced side members secured to the bottom of said skip, a clipper comprising front and rearwalls and end walls, said dipper being pivotally mounted at the lower end between the lower ends of said side members, a crank arm fixed to the pivotal mounting of said dipper, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on one of said side members, a link connecting one end of said rocker arm and said crank arm and a second link connecting the other end of said rocker arm and said linkage means, whereby with said gate closed said dipper is disposed in vertical position to receive muck flowing into the same at the bottom of the shaft and upon operation of said linkage means to open said gate said dipper will swing outwardly to discharge the muck.

6. A muck bailing attachment for a mine skip, said skip including a top loading bottom discharge bucket mounted for vertical movement on vertical guides in a mine shaft, a discharge gate pivotally mounted on the bottom of said bucket, linkage means for operating said gate to open said bucket for discharging the contents and for closing said bucket for loading operations, a cam follower on said linkage means, and a cam track adjacent the upper end of said shaft for engaging said cam follower slightly prior to termination of the upward movement of said skip to actuate said linkage to open said gate, downward movement of said skip and cam follower serving to close said gate, said attachment comprising a frame including spaced side members secured to the bottom of said skip and depending below said skip, a dipper comprising front and rearwalls and end walls, said dipper being piovtally mounted at the lower end between the lower ends of said side members and operating means connecting said dipper and said linkage means, whereby with said gate closed said dipper is disposed in Vertical position to receive muck flowing into the same at the bottom of the shaft and upon operation of said linkage means to open said gate said dipper will swing outwardly to discharge the muck.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 888,434 Weaver May 19, 1908 1,496,007 Lepley June 3, 1924 1,851,074 Wagener Mar. ,29,` 1932 

